Silver in the Shade

Capt. Clay Eavenson
May 14, 2008
Tarpon Springs - Saltwater Fishing Report

I've got some upcoming tarpon
fishing charters in St. Petersburg and I've been so busy catching
redfish, snook and trout in Tarpon Springs that I haven't had a
chance to try for tarpon yet. So, yesterday I had a rare day off and
I called my good friend Jody to see if he wanted to go tarpon
fishing. He said he was game.

I haven't been tarpon fishing
since last year and I needed a good day or two under my belt before
I was going to be running tarpon charters. So Jody and I met at
Maximo park and headed out to catch bait. It wasn't long before we
saw birds working the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and we pulled over to
take a look. There was bait everywhere and it was just the type of
bait we were looking for. The pelicans were gorging themselves on
large threadfin herring. Jody grabbed the net and said that he'd
make the first throw. That 1st throw would be all we needed as he
hauled in 25lbs of bait. So after a total of five minutes of bait
hunting we were headed off to chase after bigger game. Tampa Bay's
very own precious "silver". Tarpon.

We set up on the South side
of the main span of the Skyway on the last of the incoming tide but
we weren't seeing any tarpon rolling. We kept ourselves busy
catching grouper and mangrove snapper and we decided to headed to
the North end of the main span for the tide change.

When
we set up shop on the North end of the bridge the tide began to
turn. It looked like a the water came to life. I've never seen
so much bait flipping on the surface in my life and we both noticed
that it was staying in the shadow of the bridge. Shortly after the
bait showed up we saw the first tarpon crash the surface eating the
bait. 10 second after that my drag started to scream. Tarpon on! All
heck broke loose as Jody tried to throw off the anchor and start the
motor. All the while 200 yards of line was leaving my reel at a
break neck pace. We finally freed ourselves of the anchor and the
chase was on. Luckily the beast headed towards Tampa and left the
sharp barnacles of the bridge behind. After a 15 minute fight the
fish was brought boat side and and the first tarpon of the year was
photographed on my boat.

We managed a few more hookups
but these fish were smarter and ran us off on pilings. We followed
the fish by staying in the shadow of the bridge. That's where
the bait stayed and with it the tarpon. It wasn't a banner tarpon
day but they are there and it was great to break the seal on another
tarpon season.

If you want to battle a
"silver king" in Tampa Bay, schedule your
charter online today!

Target Species:

Tarpon

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